The Ministers of the Crown Act 1937 (C.38) was an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

that set salaries for members of the government and opposition. It is notable as the first Act to formally recognise the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

, the Cabinet and the Leader of the Opposition.

Act

The Act set out salaries for government ministers and certain members of the opposition. Although applying to "ministers" it did not define ministers and indeed excluded two of them: the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

and

Attorney General for England and Wales His Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales is one of the law officers of the Crown and the principal legal adviser to sovereign and Government in affairs pertaining to England and Wales. The attorney general maintains the Attorney G ...

. The Act first gave the salary for the

, which was set at £10,000 a year.£10,000 in 1937 would be worth approximately £ in This was only the second time that the Prime Minister had been mentioned in an Act of Parliament, after the

Chequers Estate Act 1917 The 'Chequers Estate Act 1917'' is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that designates Chequers as the official country residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It was given Royal Assent Royal assent is the meth ...

, which granted him a country residence at Chequers. The other officials covered by the Act fell into two categories – heads of department, and under-secretaries. Heads of certain departments, such as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, received £5,000£5,000 in 1937 would be worth approximately £ in a year regardless of their membership in the Cabinet, while others such as the Lord Privy Seal received £3,000,£3,000 in 1937 would be worth approximately £ in with an increase to £5,000 if they come to sit in the Cabinet. The under-secretaries were granted £3,000 a year if Chief Whip, £2,000£2,000 in 1937 would be worth approximately £ in if

Financial Secretary to the Treasury The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Excheq ...

, £1,500£1,500 in 1937 would be worth approximately £ in if Financial Secretary to the Admiralty or similar and £1,000£1,000 in 1937 would be worth approximately £ in if

Assistant Postmaster-General The Assistant Postmaster General is a defunct junior ministerial position in the United Kingdom Government. The title of Postmaster General was abolished under the Post Office Act 1969. A new public authority governed by a chairman was established ...

. The Act also gave a pension of £2,000 a year to any individual who had served as Prime Minister, and a salary of £2,000 to the Leader of the Opposition. The Act is notable for several reasons; it was the first Act of Parliament to directly deal with ministerial salaries, and also the first Act to provide a salary for the Prime Minister, and for the Leader of the Opposition, whose duties it defined. It was the first statute to formally recognise the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and the Leader of the Opposition. The Act was repealed by the Ministerial Salaries Consolidation Act 1965.

Notes and references

;Notes UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available fro
Measuring Worth: UK CPI
;References

Bibliography

* * {{cite book , last=Mowat , first=Charles Loch , authorlink=C. L. Mowat , title=Britain between the wars: 1918–1940 , publisher=

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa ...

, year=1978 , isbn=0-416-29510-X , url-access=registration , url=https://archive.org/details/britainbetweenwa00mowa United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1937 Government of the United Kingdom Repealed United Kingdom Acts of Parliament Government ministers of the United Kingdom